Mariah Carey Named 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year: ‘Her Voice Has Shaped the Sound of Our Times’

Mariah Carey will be honored as the 2026 MusiCares Person of the Year at the organization’s annual fundraiser. The event will be held on Friday, Jan. 30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, two days before the 68th annual Grammy Awards at the adjacent Crypto.com Arena.

At 56, Carey will become the youngest person of the year honoree since Sting received the honor at age 52 in 2004. She will become the youngest woman to receive the honor since Gloria Estefan, who was just 36 when she received the honor in 1994.

“We are honored to recognize Mariah Carey as this year’s MusiCares Person of the Year, a true creative force and once-in-a-generation talent,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares, said in a statement. “Her artistry and her voice have helped shape the sound of our times. We look forward to celebrating her remarkable career on this very special night.”

This will be MusiCares’ 35th benefit gala. (The event wasn’t held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) The gala has raised millions of dollars to support MusiCares’ programs, including health and wellness services, addiction recovery, preventive care, disaster relief, and emergency support for music professionals.

The first Person of the Year gala (honoring David Crosby) was held in 1991, two days before the 33rd annual Grammy Awards ceremony at which Carey won her first two Grammys – best new artist and best pop vocal performance, female for breakthrough smash, “Vision of Love.”

Carey joins a distinguished list of MusiCares honorees. The last five recipients of the award are Aerosmith, Joni Mitchell, Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, Jon Bon Jovi and Grateful Dead.

Carey’s philanthropic works include providing relief for communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic. She founded Camp Mariah in partnership with the Fresh Air Fund to support underserved youth and has championed initiatives advancing health, education and social welfare.

“Mariah Carey’s influence extends far beyond her remarkable artistry,” Theresa Wolters, executive director of MusiCares, said in a statement. “She has used her platform consistently to provide tangible support to communities, whether through disaster relief, youth empowerment, or programs that help those facing barriers to opportunity. Her work exemplifies the values at the heart of MusiCares: creating systems of care that lift people up and ensure music professionals and communities can thrive. Honoring her as Person of the Year celebrates both her incredible musical legacy and her dedication to making a meaningful difference in the lives of others.”

Carey has received multiple awards in recent years. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022. In February 2024, she received a Global Impact Award from The Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective. She received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7 – and also won her first VMA in competition that night for “Type Dangerous” as best R&B. She has been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in each of the last two years but has yet to receive that accolade.

Carey has amassed 19 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, from “Vision of Love” in June 1990 to “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which logged its most recent appearance at No. 1 in January 2025. That’s more No. 1 hits than any other solo artist and is just one shy of the all-time record held by The Beatles. Impressively, she co-wrote 18 of those songs.

Carey has had six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, from Mariah Carey in March 1991 to E=MC2 in May 2008. She has amassed 19 top 10 albums on that chart, including her current album, Here For It All, which debuted at No. 7 for the week of Oct. 11. Only two women have had more top 10 albums in the history of the chart (since it began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in 1956) – Barbra Streisand (34) and Madonna (23).

Carey has won five Grammys, including vocal performance honors in both pop and R&B. In 1991, she became just the fifth artist in Grammy history to be nominated in each of the Big Four categories – album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist.

The MusiCares event includes a cocktail reception, dinner and a tribute concert. Tickets are for sale on the organization’s website. Individual tickets range from $3,000 to $7,000. Tables for 12 range from $30,000 to $80,000.

The event will again be produced by live event broadcast outfit Lewis & Clark, comprised of Joe Lewis and R.A. Clark. Sponsors include AEG and the Wasserman Foundation.

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